Arizona Divers Compete at Zone ?E? Championships

This Week in the Pool ?- The men’s and women’s diving teams will travel to Oklahoma City, Okla. to compete at the 2006 Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships on March 9-11 for a chance to join the 24 Arizona swimmers already attending the national championships.

What are the Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships ?- The top-three finishers on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, along with the top-two finishers on platform will automatically qualify to compete at the NCAA Championships. If any of the divers finish in one of these positions, they will join the swimmers at their respective NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

A Look at the Wildcats ?- For the women, senior captain Tiffany Manning will lead the Wildcats for a spot on the national championship team. Manning won the platform competition at the 2006 Pac-10 Championships with 296.85 points while finishing third on both the 1-meter (308.50 points) and 3-meter (343.75 points) events. She was also the Pac-10 Women’s Diver of the Month for the month of October after winning the platform event at the 2005 Trojan Diving Invitational (267.20 points) and the 3-meter competition as well (269.95 points), while finishing second in the 1-meter (285.85 points). Manning also and won a total of seven 1-meter competitions and six 3-meter competitions during the dual meet season.

Senior John Collier is also predicted to make a splash at this year’s diving championships as he qualified for the championship finals in each event at the Pac-10 Championships. Collier finished fifth in the 3-meter with 333.20 points, sixth in the 1-meter (327.05 points) and finished eighth in the platform (229.70 points).

Junior Patrick Sullivan will add depth to the men’s squad, as he finished seventh in the 1-meter with 310.65 points at this year’s conference championships, while placing sixth in the platform (251.20 points) and 10^th in the 3-meter (267.60 points).

What Happened Last Year ?- At the 2005 Zone ?'E’ Diving Championships, two Arizona women advanced to the national championships to compete on all three boards. Collier also qualified to compete in the springboard events for the men’s team.

On the first day of competition, Collier finished second in the 1-meter with 654.00 points, behind defending national champion Joona Pahakka from ASU.

Seniors Daniela Bemme and Claire Febvay finished 14^th and 15^th respectively in the 3-meter competition. Bemme tallied 436.60 points while Febvay posted 434.10 points.

On the final day, Febvay and Bemme both qualified for the NCAA Championships as Fevay finished

third in the 10-meter platform event with 419.20 points, and Bemme finished sixth with 397.30 points.

Also in the platform diving finals, sophomore Megan McDonald finished 14^th (334.90 points) and senior Megan Chambers finished 15^th (331.05 points).

Who’s Qualified for NCAA’s ?- The women will return seven swimmers to the NCAA Championships and will add eight newcomers to the bunch. The men will return eight swimmers to the national championships on March 23-25, as they have nine swimmers qualified to compete so far.

Men

Ivan Barnes *

Simon Burnett *

Tyler DeBerry *

Lyndon Ferns *

Nicolas Nilo

Adam Ritter *

Dave Rollins *

Albert Subirats*
Nick Thoman *

Women

Taylor Baughman

Courtney Cashion*

Jacquelyn Craft

Hailey Degolia

Jessica Embick

Jenna Gresdal*

Lara Jackson

Lindsey Kelly

Whitney Myers*

Lacey Nymeyer*

Lisa Pursley*

Erin Sieper*

Marshi Smith*

Kathryn Thompson

Anna Turner

*- Indicates returning NCAA competitor and 2005 All-American

Women at the Pac-10 Championships ?- The No. 7 Arizona women’s swimming and diving team claimed the 2006 Pac-10 title for the second time in school history on Feb. 25, tallying a total of four individual champions, three relay champions and 17 NCAA automatic qualifying times.

Arizona had been in the lead since day one of the championships, downing two of the top teams in the nation, No. 3 Cal and No. 6 Stanford, posting the best finish at the meet since 2000 when the women took first place with a total of 1,125 points and only four individual champions.

Champions

Name Event Time

Smith, Sieper, Jackson, Turner 200 medley 1:39.60

Cashion, Gresdal, Turner, Nymeyer 200 free relay 1:30.22

Cashion, Gresdal, Baughman, Nymeyer 400 free relay 3:16.60 #

Whitney Myers 400 individual medley 4:14.18

Jenna Gresdal 100 back 53.05

Courtney Cashion 100 free 48.59

Tiffany Manning platform diving 296.85 points

Men at the Pac-10 Championships - The No .6 Arizona men’s swimming and diving team completed the final day of the Pac-10 Championships in fourth-place with 519 points, while posting a total of two individual champions, one relay title, two conference meet records and two new school records. Arizona also tallied a total of 11 NCAA automatic qualifying times and 20 consideration times throughout four days of competition.

Champions

Name Event Time

Burnett, Ferns, DeBerry, Ritter 800 free relay 6:18.70 *#

Lyndon Ferns 100 fly 46.43

Simon Burnett 200 free 1:33.26 #

* - indicates new school record

# - indicates Pac-10 meet record

Arizona’s Next Action ?- The women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Athens, Georgia on March 16-18 to compete at the 25^th annual NCAA Championships held in the Gabrielsen Natatorium inside the Ramsey Center on the UGA campus.

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